LDN - Sports

Mount Pulaski defeats Monmouth ICS 2-1 at State

[October 02, 2021] The Mount Pulaski Bruins are guaranteed to bring home some hardware today (weather permitting) from the IESA Class 1A State Baseball Tournament in East
Peoria. Mount Pulaski eliminated the Monmouth ICS Trojans 2-1 on Friday to
reach the final four.

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead over the Bruins in the bottom of the first inning.
Mount Pulaski’s starter, Luke Martin, struck out two batters in the first inning, but allowed a walk to Cal Casteel. Nick Huston’s hit to shortstop resulted in an error by Eric Cooper and Casteel took advantage by hustling to third on the play. Casteel scored the first run of the game on a passed ball, before Martin struck out Marc Simmons to end the inning.

The Bruins evened the score in the top of the third inning. With two outs, Tucker Fitzpatrick singled to right field. Fitzpatrick took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center by Cooper.

In the top of the fourth inning Mount Pulaski took a 2-1 lead over the Trojans.
Martin doubled with one out and then stole third base with Tyler Cross in the
batter’s box with a 1-1 count. Martin then stole home with a 3-1 count on Cross, scoring the go-ahead run.

The Trojans would not get a hit in the game until the bottom of the seventh
inning. A one-out single by Elijah Noel was a short-lived threat. Noel would be
stranded at third base as Cooper struck out the final two batters to end the
game.

Mount Pulaski earns the 2-1 win and moves on to the semifinals.

The game was a battle between the two pitching staffs, which resulted in 26
strikeouts on the day.

Mount Pulaski’s Luke Martin earned the win as he struck out 11 batters over five
and two-thirds innings. Martin did not allow a hit. Eric Cooper struck out two
batters and allowed one hit over an inning and one-third of relief pitching.

Andrew Way suffered the loss for Monmouth ICS. Way struck out 11 batters and allowed four hits and two runs over six innings of work. Cal Casteel pitched one inning in relief and had two strikeouts.

Mount Pulaski had four hits against Trojans pitching.

Eric Cooper was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Mount Pulaski. Tucker Fitzpatrick was 1-for-2 with a run scored. Luke Martin was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

With the community buzzing with excitement around the Bruins success, Mount Pulaski head coach Troy Burgard took note of the energy that carried all the way to East Peoria.

“We had a great crowd and the atmosphere was awesome,” said Burgard. “Our players definitely feed off of the energy our fans bring to every game.”

Burgard also recognized the great effort by the Monmouth starting pitcher,
Andrew Way.

“Andrew Way for ICS threw a really great game,” said Burgard. “He came right after our hitters with mostly fastballs and we weren’t able to catch up for the most part.”

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Mount Pulaski defeats Monmouth ICS 2-1 at State / Mount Pulaski Bruins picture courtesy of Erin Martin

It was the smallest guy in the Bruins lineup coming up with the biggest hit for
Mount Pulaski to get them in the run column on Friday.

“We were able to get a clutch two-out hit from Tucker Fitzpatrick in the third
inning to keep the inning alive,” said Burgard, “and he ended up at second base after a wild pitch. Eric Cooper had a huge single to center to tie the game.”

“We were able to take the lead on what was actually a botched squeeze bunt,”
continued Burgard. “Luke Martin was stealing on the pitch at third base and we
didn’t get the bunt down. The catcher threw to third, and Luke instantly ran home and just beat the throw back to the plate.”

Martin and the defense behind him drew high praise from Burgard.

“Luke has really carried us on the mound the majority of the postseason, and he was great once again,” said Burgard. “Our infield has a knack for making great plays when he’s on his last hitter. Today it was Tucker Fitzpatrick at second base. They hit a ground ball up the middle, and he made an unbelievable
backhanded play into a Jeter-esque airborne throw to first to get them out by an eyelash. Eric Cooper came in to finish the last inning and a third and stranded a
runner at third in the bottom of the seventh.”

Finally, Burgard noted, “It wasn’t the prettiest win we’ve had but they all count the same, especially at this point in the year. We’re now playing on the final day of the season, and I couldn’t be more proud of these boys.”

Mount Pulaski (18-1) will play Royal Prairieview Ogden (18-3) at 9:30 a.m. today at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria.

The winner will play in the championship game at 4 p.m. later today.
The third place game will be at 2:00 p.m. today.

Monmouth ICS finished the season with a 15-6 record.
Go Bruins!

[Teena Lowery]

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